At SHS, one group will attend in-person school on Monday and Tuesday, while the other will attend on Thursday and Friday, doing distance learning those other days.
At both schools on Wednesdays all students will remain home for distance learning for a half day, with the afternoons serving as opportunities for the teachers to catch up and cover professional work while the students engage in a somewhat vaguely described version of independent study.
The elementary plan, which is still evolving, will require significant transportation costs to the tune of an additional $90,000 a month, as well as more staff hiring in the way of paraprofessionals to help oversee transitions.
The plan will mean lunch will no longer be served at school.
“I look at this as an incredible improvement,” said BOE member Elaine Whitney, in relation to the previous iteration of the plan, noting the benefits of giving all students the chance to attend four days a week outweigh the additional cost.
Revised plans from both SHS and the middle schools, likewise, drew favor from BOE members.
The 80-minute periods to take place at SHS — four each day — received some positive words, while the reorganization of the middle school plan to keep students from being away from in-person learning for too long a consecutive period each week was appreciated.
Not everyone was in agreement on everything, however, as a mass of public comments — more than 40 emails from residents — shared a range of specific concerns, though overall reactions to the plans was mixed.
“Two days a week of in-person learning at the high school is just not enough,” said parent Sarah Adair.
“If the transmission rates are as low as they are, I don’t understand the justification of keeping kids home,” she said, noting that students would be gathering unsafely anyway in groups and possibly getting involved in destructive behaviors.
Others asked why the attending time of specific groups differed at different schools, suggesting they be put in alignment to make it easier for parents.
“This is a big strain for working parents and working moms in particular,” one woman said.
The idea of making the “flex” day Friday instead of Wednesday was also mentioned, as at least one parent said students who attended on Tuesdays and Fridays at the middle school would not be getting as fine a learning experience as the ones attending on Monday and Thursday.
Harris Falk, District 2 Representative Town Meeting member, noted that the cleaning protocols wouldn’t be consisted with different groups in attendance, as preparation time would vary for cleaning staff.
He also highlighted the fact that video cameras — thought to be instrumental for teaching the classes to students who will be doing distance learning — will not even be in place when school begins.
“That is a major issue,” he said, raising a range of questions of exactly how it’s going to look, whether teachers will be visible to students at all times and vice versa.
A somewhat harried Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice introduced the lengthy presentations by his various administrators to the BOE by expressing his frustrations with how he said public schools in general are being viewed during this time.
“The divisiveness around our profession is probably the part that’s most disheartening to me right now,” he said.
“It does concern me that there’s a national tone about education and educators … that I really take issue with,” he said, stressing the virgin ground upon which they’re treading.
While he expressed his “full confidence” that the system would do well with its reopening operations — though he confided that no one was really happy with any of them — he also alluded to the wear it’s having upon him to try and keep up with the myriad responsibilities on his shoulders at this time, in light of unspecified changing information.
“I’m getting personally really tired of apologizing because the communication flow that comes to the system makes it very challenging,” he said, referencing information outside the local community upon which they were dependent.
He said he had received close to 400 emails from parents, which he described as “rife with great ideas,” but more than can even be considered at this time.
“There’s a reality to bandwidth here,” he said, explaining that decisions — even compromised ones — needed to be made in order to move forward with some kind of plan for next month.
He said the recommendation for the hybrid plan was not strictly a data-driven decision, “nor should it be,” with a range of factors under consideration.
“We are a community and a nation enveloped in a bit of fear … and a good deal of uncertainty,” Scarice said, abetted by politics and conflicting messages.
“It’s not that simple and it’s for that reason that I’m recommending to the board that we open our schools in a hybrid model to start the school year off in September,” he said, subject to a four-week review to “see what the data is and see what our progress is.”
“This is an incredibly divisive decision,” he said. “It is going to impact parents and students … in very different ways. There will be a perception of winners and losers and that concerns me a great deal.”
With an eye toward prioritizing what’s best for students, he said, as well as health and safety — not to mention the similar hybrid plans under consideration in nearby school districts — Scarice said he felt this was for the best.
“We’re taking a conservative approach (to) get the systems and processes and protocols down,” he said.
“Make no mistake we are reinventing what we do from a procedures and policies perspective,” he said.
At SHS, one group will attend in-person school on Monday and Tuesday, while the other will attend on Thursday and Friday, doing distance learning those other days.
At both schools on Wednesdays all students will remain home for distance learning for a half day, with the afternoons serving as opportunities for the teachers to catch up and cover professional work while the students engage in a somewhat vaguely described version of independent study.
The elementary plan, which is still evolving, will require significant transportation costs to the tune of an additional $90,000 a month, as well as more staff hiring in the way of paraprofessionals to help oversee transitions.
The plan will mean lunch will no longer be served at school.
“I look at this as an incredible improvement,” said BOE member Elaine Whitney, in relation to the previous iteration of the plan, noting the benefits of giving all students the chance to attend four days a week outweigh the additional cost.
Revised plans from both SHS and the middle schools, likewise, drew favor from BOE members.
The 80-minute periods to take place at SHS — four each day — received some positive words, while the reorganization of the middle school plan to keep students from being away from in-person learning for too long a consecutive period each week was appreciated.
Not everyone was in agreement on everything, however, as a mass of public comments — more than 40 emails from residents — shared a range of specific concerns, though overall reactions to the plans was mixed.
“Two days a week of in-person learning at the high school is just not enough,” said parent Sarah Adair.
“If the transmission rates are as low as they are, I don’t understand the justification of keeping kids home,” she said, noting that students would be gathering unsafely anyway in groups and possibly getting involved in destructive behaviors.
Others asked why the attending time of specific groups differed at different schools, suggesting they be put in alignment to make it easier for parents.
“This is a big strain for working parents and working moms in particular,” one woman said.
The idea of making the “flex” day Friday instead of Wednesday was also mentioned, as at least one parent said students who attended on Tuesdays and Fridays at the middle school would not be getting as fine a learning experience as the ones attending on Monday and Thursday.
Harris Falk, District 2 Representative Town Meeting member, noted that the cleaning protocols wouldn’t be consisted with different groups in attendance, as preparation time would vary for cleaning staff.
He also highlighted the fact that video cameras — thought to be instrumental for teaching the classes to students who will be doing distance learning — will not even be in place when school begins.
“That is a major issue,” he said, raising a range of questions of exactly how it’s going to look, whether teachers will be visible to students at all times and vice versa.
A somewhat harried Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice introduced the lengthy presentations by his various administrators to the BOE by expressing his frustrations with how he said public schools in general are being viewed during this time.
“The divisiveness around our profession is probably the part that’s most disheartening to me right now,” he said.
“It does concern me that there’s a national tone about education and educators … that I really take issue with,” he said, stressing the virgin ground upon which they’re treading.
While he expressed his “full confidence” that the system would do well with its reopening operations — though he confided that no one was really happy with any of them — he also alluded to the wear it’s having upon him to try and keep up with the myriad responsibilities on his shoulders at this time, in light of unspecified changing information.
“I’m getting personally really tired of apologizing because the communication flow that comes to the system makes it very challenging,” he said, referencing information outside the local community upon which they were dependent.
He said he had received close to 400 emails from parents, which he described as “rife with great ideas,” but more than can even be considered at this time.
“There’s a reality to bandwidth here,” he said, explaining that decisions — even compromised ones — needed to be made in order to move forward with some kind of plan for next month.
He said the recommendation for the hybrid plan was not strictly a data-driven decision, “nor should it be,” with a range of factors under consideration.
“We are a community and a nation enveloped in a bit of fear … and a good deal of uncertainty,” Scarice said, abetted by politics and conflicting messages.
“It’s not that simple and it’s for that reason that I’m recommending to the board that we open our schools in a hybrid model to start the school year off in September,” he said, subject to a four-week review to “see what the data is and see what our progress is.”
“This is an incredibly divisive decision,” he said. “It is going to impact parents and students … in very different ways. There will be a perception of winners and losers and that concerns me a great deal.”
With an eye toward prioritizing what’s best for students, he said, as well as health and safety — not to mention the similar hybrid plans under consideration in nearby school districts — Scarice said he felt this was for the best.
“We’re taking a conservative approach (to) get the systems and processes and protocols down,” he said.
“Make no mistake we are reinventing what we do from a procedures and policies perspective,” he said.
